More than 4000 NGO participants from all around the world are gathered in New York for the 65th UN DPI NGO conference titled 2015 and Beyond.Our agenda. The focus of the conference is to collect NGO vision and contribution toward the achievement of and improvements towards the Millennium Development Goals, MDG. Civil society grass work and expertise are essential and crucial to succeed. San Patrignano as NGO in consultation status with the Economic and Social Committee of the United Nations is proud to participate along with civil society colleagues. Although there is not specific MDG objective or target speaking of drugs, neither as tackling addiction or nor eradication of crime and adverse consequences related to drug consumption and dependence, there are existing and crucial links related to sustainable development, poverty eradication, human rights perspective which are cross cutting and interrelated with drug issues and policy.
As stated by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon “We should always put the people at the center, whatever we do”, San Patrignano believes in empowering drug addicts, fostering their recovery and social reintegration to be active member of the society as a whole and to contribute to making the word a better place. Part of the San Patrignano mandate is also to promote international and national drug policies which should be respectful of human dignity, fostering recovery as a viable option for individuals and society.
The three day UN NGO 2014 conference will feature major speakers in the introductory and closing sessions and also provide more than 100 workshops to tackle all the aspects of the main conference themes such as poverty eradication, sustainable development, human rights and climate change. More information on the program are available at the conference website
The expected result of the conference would be a joint civil society declaration collecting input and suggestion from civil society on how to progress, reach and go beyond the Millennium Development Goals challenges. 2015 is a milestone, it cannot be an end, we all, collectively, need to engage and work not just for the future we want, but also for the future we need.